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http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/5360

Title:

Clinical Outcomes and Immunohaematological Markers of People Living with Hiv and Aids With or Without Mycobacterium Tuberculosis in Selected Anti-Retroviral Clinics in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana

Tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are two devastating global infectious diseases. The objectives that guided the study were to examine the clinical outcomes, CD4 cells count, Immunohaematological Markers, Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate of PLWHA with or without TB and also TB results of HIV/ TB coinfected patients at three selected anti- retroviral clinics in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. A sample size of 544 respondents participated in a case-control study in a 2:1 ratio through a convenience sampling method. Out of which 363 PLWHA with or without TB participated as subjects for the study whilst 181 participated as “healthy controls”. The graph pad prism and SPSS 16 version a statistical package for social sciences were used to analyse the data. Findings revealed that there were significant mean differences in all the immunohaematological indices (Haemoglobin level, White blood cells count, Packed cells volume, Platelets count, Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate, CD4 count) and HIV and TB status (P < 0.05). Also, none of the female respondents had a normal ESR (0- 8) mm/hr. Among the TB-HIV coinfected patients, TB was diagnosed in 8 (2.2%) by sputum smear microscopy alone, whilst 13 (3.6%) by sputum culture (P > 0.05). There was no case of multi- drug resistance in the TB- sensitivity results. The study concluded that laboratory results of immunohaematological indices, (full blood count, Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, CD4 count) are important in the monitoring and management of TB and HIV infection. The study therefore recommends that immunohaematological indices (CD4 count, FBC and ESR) must be performed routinely to monitor TB and HIV patients on regular basis in order to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with the diseases.

Description:

A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Theoretical and Applied Biology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of a Master of Philosophy in Microbiology, July-2013